Semi-circular tipper with a push-bottom design, suitable for depositing a bed of material on the ground.

Abstract

------ Semi-circular dump body with a push-bottom design adapted for depositing a layer of material on the ground. In the dump body, near the closing wall (7), at least one hatch (10) is formed. Beneath the dump body is arranged a material distribution and spreading assembly (24) onto the ground. This assembly includes a receptacle (25) for receiving the material to be distributed, which falls from the opening(s) (9). A material distribution screw (30) is mounted in this receptacle with its axis positioned transversely to the average longitudinal line of the dump body (3); and hatches (26) for distributing the material onto the ground. Figure to be published with the abbreviation: Figure 1

Description

Title of the invention: Half-round bucket with push bottom suitable for depositing a bed of material on the ground

[0001] The present invention relates to a half-round bucket with a push bottom suitable for depositing a bed of material on the ground, such as a bed of gravel.

[0002] Gravel trucks are most often dump trucks equipped with a diffuser to allow gravel to be deposited on the ground. The dump truck is loaded with gravel, then lifted so that the material is spread by the diffuser. This type of device is for example described in document FR 2 528 085.

[0003] Legislation requires that skips are no longer raised in order to increase the safety of operators who move around behind the skip.

[0004] FR 3 052 792 describes a truck for spreading gravel on the ground without having to lift the bucket containing the gravel. In this device, the gravel spreader is placed in front of the truck cab. The gravel comes out in the conventional manner at the rear of the bucket and is redirected towards the front of the truck by a conveyor to be deposited on the ground.

[0005] While this solution does not require lifting the skip, it does use a complex architecture involving a conveyor which complicates and slows down the operation because it moves the gravel coming out of the skip towards the front of the truck. This does not make it easier to spread gravel and hold the gravel deposited on the ground because the gravel is deposited at the front of the truck and the truck then passes over the gravel which has just been deposited.

[0006] There is therefore a need for a gravel truck which is simple in its architecture while allowing gravel to be applied from the rear of the truck and without having to lift the dump body.

[0007] To this end, the present invention relates to a half-round skip with a push bottom intended to be mounted on the chassis of a carrier vehicle for depositing a bed of material on the ground when the carrier vehicle is moving, said skip comprising a skip body having, at the rear if we consider the direction of forward movement of the carrier vehicle, a closing wall opposite the push bottom, characterized in that: • in the body of the bucket is formed in the vicinity of the closing wall at least one hatch, called a feed hatch, capable of passing from a first position, in which it closes an opening for discharging the material made in the body of the bucket in its bottom region, to a second position, in which it clears said opening allowing the evacuation of matter by gravity; and • under the body of the skip is arranged a unit for distributing and spreading the material on the ground, said unit for distributing and spreading the material comprising: • a box constituting a receptacle receiving the material to be distributed, which falls into it through the discharge opening(s) in their released position, an endless screw for distributing the material which falls into the receptacle being mounted in it with its axis arranged transversely to the mean longitudinal line of the bucket and parallel to a plane tangential to the bottom of the bucket; and • hatches, called material distribution hatches on the ground, each of which is capable of moving from a first position, in which it closes a material discharge opening made in the bottom of the box, to a second position, in which it clears said opening allowing the material to be evacuated by gravity.

[0008] The box may have the general shape of a hopper, with a front wall inclined towards the rear, a rear wall inclined towards the front at least in its lower part and joined at its lower edge with the front wall, and two side walls, the endless screw being mounted by each of its ends in a rolling bearing carried by a respective side wall of the box, the opening(s) for discharging the material onto the ground being made in the rear wall in the vicinity of its junction with the front wall.

[0009] The feed hatch(es) may be mounted under the bucket, capable of sliding along the mean longitudinal line of the bucket, the hatch(es) having an upper surface of the same concavity as the region of the bucket bottom against which it(they) slide(s).

[0010] The or each feed hatch may be mounted to slide under the action of a jack whose body is fixed under the bucket opposite its rear closing wall and whose rod is connected to the feed hatch opposite the closing wall of the bucket.

[0011] The or each feed hatch may be rectangular in shape when viewed from above and is guided laterally by guide members fixed to or carried by the exterior of the bottom of the bin, advantageously with the interposition of a blade of material facilitating sliding.

[0012] There may be two feed hatches, advantageously arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal central plane of the bucket.

[0013] The box may have a rear wall extending, on each side, beyond the dump bed discharge openings, the distribution screw allowing a distribution distribution across the entire width of the carrier vehicle, the distribution hatches being distributed across the entire rear wall of the box.

[0014] Each discharge opening made in the bottom of the box may be capable of being opened or closed by the associated distribution hatch sliding along the inclined rear wall of the box externally to the latter, under the action of a jack whose rod is fixed to the hatch and whose body is fixed to the rear wall of the box in the upper part.

[0015] The bucket according to the invention may comprise means for attachment to a work platform, on which an operator can climb to control the exit of the material from the bucket, which also ensures smoothing of this material deposited in a bed on the ground as the carrier vehicle advances, and which is fixed to the carrier vehicle before the operation of distributing the material on the ground.

[0016] At least one porthole may be formed in the rear wall of the box allowing the operator controlling the distribution of the material to view the material contained in the box, advantageously from a working platform attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle at the start of the operation of distributing the material on the ground.

[0017] A viewing hatch may be made in the rear closing wall of the bucket allowing the operator controlling the distribution of the material to view the material contained in the bucket, advantageously from a working platform attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle at the start of the operation.

[0018] The bucket according to the invention may comprise, in the upper part, and on each side, a pulley over which passes a cable, one end of which is fixed to the rod of a jack whose body is fixed to the bucket, and the other end of which is intended to be fixed to a work platform attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle at the start of the operation to ensure that the platform is held in the operating position.

[0019] To better illustrate the object of the present invention, a particular embodiment will be described below, for informational and non-limiting purposes, with reference to the appended drawing, in which: • [Fig.l] is a schematic sectional view of the rear part of a half-round bucket with a push bottom against which a gravel work platform known as such has been mounted; • [Fig.2] shows, on a larger scale, the rear part of the bucket of [Fig.l], in its lower region and without the working platform, in the open position of the bucket bottom hatches, namely the feed hatches; • [Fig.3] is a cross-sectional view of the rear part of the bucket along line III-III of [Fig.l]; • [Fig.4] is a cross-sectional view of the rear part of the dump body according to line IV-IV of [Fig.l], the lower wall of the feed hatches being made according to a variant of [Fig.3]; • [Fig.5] is a front view of the exterior of the rear closing wall of the skip in the closed position of the material distribution hatches on the ground.

[0020] If we refer first of all to [Fig.l], we can see that the rear part of a carrier vehicle has been shown, which is a skip lorry 1 of which we can see the chassis 2, on which the skip 3, the rear wheels 4 and the suspension 5 are mounted.

[0021] The bucket 3 is a push bucket with a semi-cylindrical internal wall. It is a bucket open at the top and formed by a central part 6 of cross-section curved in the shape of a semicircle. The bucket has a front wall and, opposite the front wall, a rear closing door 7 (Figures 1 and 5). This door 7 is a hydraulic door whose tipping device at the top has been designated by 8.

[0022] The bucket 3 has a thrust shield, not shown, which has a thrust body and a cylinder for moving the thrust body. The cylinder is secured to the front part of the bucket 3 by any suitable fixing means. The displacement cylinder makes it possible to move the shield in translation towards the rear and the front of the bucket 3.

[0023] On the central part 6 of the bucket 3 and in the vicinity of its rear part opposite the front wall, two openings 9 are formed in the bottom of the central part 6, being arranged symmetrically with respect to the central longitudinal plane of the bucket 3, as can be better seen in Figures 3 and 4.

[0024] The openings 9 are made by cutting and in the example shown, they are generally rectangular in shape.

[0025] In order to be able to close each opening 9 of the bucket 3, a hatch 10 is mounted under the latter and is capable of sliding along the average longitudinal line of the bottom of the bucket 3 between a position in which the opening 9 is closed by said hatch 10 and a position in which the opening 9 is completely clear.

[0026] Each of the hatches 10 comprises an upper plate 11 which is rectangular in shape and which has the same concavity as the bottom of the central part 6 of the bucket 3. In use, the upper plate 11 of the hatch 10 will come into contact with the outer part of the bottom of the central part 6 of the bucket 3.

[0027] Under the upper plate 11, the hatch 10 comprises a hatch body 12. The body 12 comprises a lower plate 13 which is folded upwards along each of its two longitudinal edges by a side plate 14. The plate 13 may have a flat shape ([Fig.3]) or may have a central fold ([Fig.4]).

[0028] The body 12 is closed, at each of its ends - front and rear - by a plate 15, the two plates 15 being welded along the respective outer edges of the lower plate 13 and the side plates 14, and each having an edge on upper plate which is intended to come against the upper plate 11 and which therefore has a concavity identical to that of the upper plate 11.

[0029] The body 12 is fixed to the upper plate 11 by welding, the upper edges of the plates 15 and 16 following the curved part of the upper plate 11 and the upper edges of the side plates 14 following the longitudinal direction of the upper plate 11.

[0030] The movement of a hatch 10 between the position where it closes an associated opening 9 and the position where it clears it is ensured by a jack 16. The jack 16 comprises a cylindrical body 17 carried by the underside of the bucket 3 and in which a rod 18 moves, along the longitudinal direction of the bucket 3.

[0031] The free end of the rod 18 is fixed to the front plate 15 of the body 12 of the associated hatch 10. The rod 18 therefore makes it possible to move the hatch 10 between the closed position and the open position.

[0032] Under the bucket 3, there are arranged guide members 19, 20 of the hatches 10, namely two external guide members 19 and a central guide member 20. The members 19 are fixed to the bucket 3 by a fixing system 21, and the member 20, by a device 22.

[0033] So-called sliding blades 23, facilitating the movement of the hatches 10, made for example of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE - Teflon) are arranged between a guide member 19, 20 and its adjacent hatch 10.

[0034] Under the bucket 3 is arranged an assembly 24 for distributing and spreading the material on the ground, which comprises a box 25 for receiving the material falling from the openings 9, and hatches 26 called distribution hatches (five in number in the example shown - see [Fig.5]).

[0035] The box 25 has the general shape of a hopper, with a front wall 27 inclined towards the rear, a rear wall 28 inclined towards the front in its middle and lower part and joined at its lower edge with the front wall 27, and two side walls 29, a worm screw 30 for distributing the material being mounted by each of its ends in a rolling bearing carried by a respective side wall 29 of the box 25, openings 31 for discharging the material onto the ground being made in the rear wall in the vicinity of its junction with the front wall (see Figures 1 and 2).

[0036] The rear wall 28 of the box 25 extends, on each side, beyond the bottom discharge openings 9 of the skip, the distribution screw 30 allowing distribution over the entire width of the carrier vehicle 1, the distribution hatches 26 being distributed over the entire rear wall 28 of the box 25, their number being equal to that of the openings 31 to which they correspond.

[0037] Each discharge opening 31 made in the bottom of the box 25 is capable of being opened or closed by the associated distribution hatch 26 sliding along the inclined rear wall 28 of the box 25 externally to the latter, under the action of a jack 32 whose rod 33 is fixed to the hatch 26 and the body 34 is fixed to the rear wall 28 of the box 25 in the upper part.

[0038] The bucket 3 comprises means for attachment (not shown) to a work platform (PF), on which an operator O climbs to control the exit of the material from the bucket 3, which also ensures smoothing of this material deposited in a bed on the ground as the carrier vehicle 1 advances, and which is fixed to the carrier vehicle 1 before the operation of distributing the material on the ground. Such a platform will not be described further because it is well known.

[0039] Two portholes 35 ([Fig.4]) are formed in the rear wall 28 of the box 25, allowing a view of the material contained in the box 25 by the operator O controlling the distribution of the material from the work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle 1 at the start of the operation of distributing the material on the ground.

[0040] A viewing hatch, not shown, can be made in the rear closing wall 7 of the bucket 3 allowing a view of the material contained in the bucket 3 by the operator controlling the distribution of the material advantageously from the work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle 1 at the start of the operation.

[0041] The bucket 3 comprises, in the upper part, and on each side, a pulley 36 over which passes a cable 37, one end of which is fixed to the rod 38 of a jack 39, the body 40 of which is fixed to the bucket 3, and the other end of which is intended to be fixed to the work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle 1 at the start of the operation to ensure that the platform (PF) is held in the operating position.

[0042] When material is to be distributed on the ground, the operator O climbs onto the platform (PF), the carrier vehicle 1 traveling at low speed. He controls the passage of the hatches 10 into the open position. The material then falls into the box 25 and the endless screw 30 distributes the material across the entire width of the box 25 and he controls the opening of the hatches 26 which correspond to the location where the material is to be deposited.

Claims

Claims

1. Half-round bucket with push bottom (3) intended to be mounted on the chassis (2) of a carrier vehicle (1) for depositing a bed of material on the ground when the carrier vehicle (1) is in motion, said bucket (3) comprising a bucket body having, at the rear if we consider the direction of forward movement of the carrier vehicle (1), a closing wall (7) opposite the push bottom, characterized in that: • in the body of the bucket is formed in the vicinity of the closing wall (7) at least one hatch (10), called a feed hatch, capable of passing from a first position, in which it closes an opening (9) for discharging the material made in the body of the bucket in its bottom region, to a second position, in which it clears said opening (9) allowing the evacuation of the material by gravity; and • under the body of the bucket is arranged a distribution and apportionment assembly (24) for the material on the ground, said distribution and apportionment assembly (24) for the material comprising: • a box (25) constituting a receptacle receiving the material to be distributed, which falls into it through the discharge opening(s) (9) in their released position, an endless screw (30) for distributing the material which falls into the receptacle being mounted in it with its axis arranged transversely to the mean longitudinal line of the bucket (3) and parallel to a plane tangential to the bottom of the bucket; and • hatches (26), called hatches for distributing the material onto the ground, each of which is capable of moving from a first position, in which it closes an opening (31) for discharging the material made in the bottom of the box, to a second position, in which it clears said opening (31) allowing the material to be evacuated by gravity.

2. Bucket (3) according to claim 1, characterized in that the box (25) has the general shape of a hopper, with a front wall (27) inclined towards the rear, a rear wall (28) inclined towards the front at least in its lower part and joined at its lower edge with the front wall (27), and two side walls (29), the endless screw (30) being mounted by each of its ends in a rolling bearing carried by a respective side wall (29) of the box (25), the discharge opening(s) (31) of the material onto the ground being made in the rear wall (28) in the vicinity of its junction with the front wall (27).

3. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the feed hatch(es) (10) are mounted under the bucket (3), capable of sliding along the mean longitudinal line of the bucket (3), the hatch(es) (10) having an upper surface of the same concavity as the region of the bottom of the bucket (3) against which it / they slide.

4. Bucket (3) according to claim 3, characterized in that the or each feed hatch (10) is mounted to slide under the action of a jack (16) whose body (17) is fixed under the bucket (3) opposite its rear closing wall (7) and whose rod (18) is connected to the feed hatch (10) opposite the closing wall (7) of the bucket (3).

5. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the or each feed hatch (10) is rectangular in shape when viewed from above and is guided laterally by guide members (19, 20) fixed to or carried by the outside of the bucket bottom (3), advantageously with the interposition of a blade (23) of material promoting sliding.

6. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the feed hatches (10) are two in number, advantageously arranged symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal central plane of the bucket (3).

7. Skip (3) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the box (25) has a rear wall (28) extending, on each side, beyond the bottom discharge openings (31) of the skip, the distribution screw (30) allowing distribution over the entire width of the carrier vehicle (1), the distribution hatches (26) being distributed over the entire rear wall (28) of the box (25).

8. Skip according to one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that each discharge opening (31) made in the bottom of the box (25) is capable of being opened or closed by the distribution hatch (26) associated sliding along the inclined rear wall (28) of the box externally to it, under the action of a jack (32) whose rod (33) is fixed to the hatch (26) and the body (34) is fixed to the rear wall (28) of the box (25) in the upper part.

9. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises means for attachment to a work platform (PF), on which an operator (0) can climb to control the exit of the material from the bucket (3), which also ensures smoothing of this material deposited in a bed on the ground as the carrier vehicle (1) advances, and which is fixed to the carrier vehicle (1) before the operation of distributing the material on the ground.

10. Skip (3) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that at least one porthole (35) is formed in the rear wall (28) of the box (25) allowing a view of the material contained in the box (25) by the operator (0) controlling the distribution of the material advantageously from a work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle (1) at the start of the operation of distributing the material on the ground.

11. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that a viewing hatch is made in the rear closing wall (7) of the bucket (3) allowing a view of the material contained in the bucket (3) by the operator (0) controlling the distribution of the material advantageously from a work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle (1) at the start of the operation.

12. Bucket (3) according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that it comprises, in the upper part, and on each side, a pulley (36) over which passes a cable (37) one end of which is fixed to the rod (38) of a jack (39) the body (40) of which is fixed to the bucket (3), and the other end of which is intended to be fixed to a work platform (PF) attached to the rear of the carrier vehicle (1) at the start of the operation to ensure that the platform (PF) is held in the operating position.

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